


A Candle

by KataraTakaran



Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, I have spent the last two months listening to someone cry, ambiguously around the timeskip, and gush about her ship the rest of the time, and thats why we have fic., and with handfuls of uncontextualized spoilers, blatently unreferenced, denile isnt just a river in egypt, i'm not salty, ilu sata, just barely past thrillerbark, so take this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 05:59:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13652868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KataraTakaran/pseuds/KataraTakaran
Summary: A flame loses nothing to pass on its light.





	A Candle

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Satamoru](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Satamoru/gifts).



Luffy, alone in the cabin, was usually quick to doze off. The sway of the ship rocked his hammock in familiar time. The ceiling was dim and textured in the low light. Every blink was slower and heavier. He wanted a nap to be certain. But his mind would not shut off. 

What could he have done better? What would have let him move faster? How could he have helped earlier? What was Sanji planning for breakfast? Would Sanji's breakfasts have saved Ace? 

Probably. Sanji's breakfasts made everything better. He'd bring Sanji when he found a time-travel fruit or machine. Ask Franky about time-machine building. Take him back too. The whole crew could come, just especially Sanji's breakfasts. He should get up and demand bacon pancake-

"Luffy!" Usopp burst into the room, scaring the rubberman out of his daydreams and hammock.

"What? Is breakfast ready?" Luffy's stomach rumbled pointedly. 

"No, there's a giant bird on the deck and it's on fire and it wants to talk to you, but Nami's going to kill it if you don't hurry because it may have clipped one of her trees with it's fire!" 

"A giant bird? On fire?" He stepped, blinking, into the sun. Sure enough, there was a giant on-fire bird, perched delicately on the guardrail. The rest of the crew looked ready to fight. Luffy clenched his fists, ready to deal some damage himself. "Hey, the fuck you think you're doing?! This is my ship, and those trees are Nami's!" 

Smoldering leaf-tips were the worst of the damage, but still. 

The bird tipped its head to look at him, "I said I was sorry-yoi." It hopped off the railing, wings spreading. They should have clipped the trees again, but the bird was very suddenly a man. "Captain Monkey D. Luffy, it's a pleasure to see ya again, yoi?" 

"Pineapple-head!" He forgot his real name. Whatever. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I had news. Figured you'd want it sooner." The straw-hats were starting to stand down, except the green fellow. Marco kept him in the corner of his vision as he dug into his inner coat pocket. His flames were blue-bell, but the glass jar he held burned with red-gold light. Inside, just barely discernible amid the light, was what looked like a middle finger. It burned with all the rage it could.

"What-?" Marco's flames did not burn, but the closer Luffy put his hand, the hotter the air around the jar. 

"Before... everything. The crew was playin' a game a Five Finger Fillet, bastard thought he could beat Thatch, yoi? Pared off his finger. Never stopped burnin' even when it grew back. Never stopped burnin', even after... after everything." Marco swallowed. "Wanna see if we can stoke the flame a lil, yoi?"

"But, how? The fruit's already been passed on," Nami interrupted. The straw-hats had all pulled closer. 

"Sabo has it now." But there was fire in Luffy's eyes, he was more than willing to try.

"It wouldn't be burnin' if there weren't _something_ left..." Sabo? As in, _thee_ Sabo? If this worked, Ace was going to have a hayday. 

"Franky, bring wood, lots of it. Sanji, we need the biggest metal wash tub you have."

It shouldn't have worked.  But after three days of carefully - oh so carefully - growing the flame, tending the flame, holding the flame, it wasn't just a finger inside a glass jar. 

And Luffy got to hug his brother again.

 

**Author's Note:**

> As i said in the tags? I'm just past thrillerbark. Things are wrong Im absolutely certain. (I may come back and fix this later but no promises)


End file.
